


Washed Ashore: Pokémon Are Real II - Pokémon Radio Signals

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Pokemon Are Real [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Open Novella 2020, Radio Signal, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27414616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: Cecily Atwood wants to get her students back to their world, but even Professor Oak doesn't have a clue how this might be possible.
Series: Pokemon Are Real [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1802779
Collections: (General) Open Novella 2020, Focus on Female Characters, Platonic Relationships





	1. Electric

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Pokémon. This is a sequel to Washed Ashore: Pokémon Are Real which is a rewrite of an older story and an Open Novella project for this current year. This is a project for this year, NaNoWriMo 2020. This also fulfills the Open Novella prompt for this year, Radio Signal. "A radio signal is detected, its origins being somewhere in deep space from where no such thing should feasibly originate, unless."

The smell of the lingering storm filtered through the research center while the Voltorb and Electrode’s electrical output put out a throbbing sound. Nothing seemed amiss as the research into the new radio system based on Pokémon went into effect, yet the crackling of lightning on the horizon did like always to appear to excite the Pokémon. The young assistant lifted a cup of coffee up to his lips, blinking away the late hours as he blinked his eyes as he carefully took in the data.

At first, he didn’t see anything which jumped out at him, but then he noticed the anomaly.

Reaching out for the headset, he placed them onto his head and listened, taking notes as the equipment recoded the radio signals coming in as well as the data being absorbed from the Voltorb and Electrode which helped power and create the radio signals that personified their research. After listening in, he got up and headed to the phone, calling the professor in charge.

“ _The Voltorb and Electrode aren’t having issues are they, Thomas?”_

“No mam. I think you should come in though professor and check out these radio signals.”

A yawn came over the other side of the phone. “ _It’s late. Can it wait until the morning?_ ”

“I guess?” Thomas heard the phone click before going back to the monitors, his mind wide awake as he listened to the signals well into the morning. Eventually, the storm faded with the signals as well. The professor arrived with the sun but came in with just as much zeal, which made the young assistant frustrated due to his own lack of energy. “Professor…”

“So? What is it that you felt I needed to see.”

“This.” He walked over, playing back the recording. She listened in, nodding her head. “So?”

“I think Professor Oak will be interested in this.” Neither knew how much he would be.


	2. Funny Shaped Donuts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is going to be pop-culture references as well as other references to 1999. It may get weird, but in writing this chapter I realized exactly what kind of headache I'd given my teacher character with her students.

“What to do, what to do?”

Cecily Atwood let out a deep sigh from the desk in the lab Professor Oak provided her so she could start formulating her plans regarding an actual lesson plan for the girls in case they ended up finding themselves stuck in this world of Pokémon for any duration of time. He’d eventually convinced her to get some rest herself and take up the task in the morning, yet this didn’t prevent there from being circles under her eyes and the need for coffee to arise.

So far, the only thing planned out was the girls writing a letter to their parents if something happened to them, though none had started yet, and instead they were all outside looking at the Pokémon.

“I want funny shaped donuts for breakfast rather than that stupid mush.”

Hearing the sound of Chelsey Bianchi’s voice made her look up, noting the girl just came in from outside. In the back of her mind, she didn’t know what the girl meant by funny-shaped donuts, but the tone of voice Chelsey used was far from flattering; it was in fact quite demanding. “What funny shaped donuts?”

“She’s talking about the ones that show up in the cartoon, but I want some too,” Felicity piped up, curling a lock of hair around her finger and letting out a puff of air with great gusto.

“Those weren’t donuts.” Heather piped up.

“What time is it? And how long have you girls been finished with breakfast? Are all of you done?”

Instead of answering the question, Chelsey turned and yelled into the kitchen. “Hey! Do any of you guys want donuts?”

This simply reminded Cecily of her initial thoughts regarding the students of Gladstone Academy – they were spoiled. Amy piped her head out of the kitchen. She carried in her arms a stuffed Pikachu. “You mean for lunch? Because we’ve already had breakfast.”

“Those funny shaped donuts _would_ be nice for lunch,” Felicity batted her eyelids as if she expected this to get what she wanted. Cecily _still_ didn’t know what her students were talking about.

“What are these funny shaped donuts?” Of course, neither did Nichole.

“They’re these funny shaped donuts that Brock serves in the Mankey episode,” Chelsey said as if she held authority over the matter.

“Oh.” Amy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Those weren’t donuts. They were rice balls. I’d like to learn to make rice balls.”

“Nu-uh,” Chelsey insisted, crossing her arms and glaring at Amy.

“Good idea. I’m sure Professor Oak will teach us.” Heather glared at the girl. “Particularly since it will be one of the skills we’ll need to learn if we’re going to be stuck here, which I’d rather _not_ happen because I’d rather be at home helping my mom.” Chelsey opened her mouth to protest. “And yes, Chelsey, my family situation is far more important than you getting a Pokémon.”

“Girls, no fighting.” That was the last thing Cecily actually wanted, but it would definitely bring on a headache.

“They’re definitely funny shaped donuts, Amy,” Chelsey folded her arms across her chest.

Felicity nodded her head. “It was definitely funny shaped donuts in the cartoon.”

“Anime.”

“What?” Chelsey blinked at her, but Felicity was equally confused.

“Pokémon is an animated series from Japan, but such series are called Anime, not cartoons.”

“Come on! That’s not true!” Chelsey blurted out.

“There’s no difference between the two,” Felicity pouted.

“Yeah, in where they’re made,” Heather pointed out. “You two, for knowing more about Pokémon than Nichole does certainly don’t know much. Pokémon wasn’t made in the United States but in Japan.”

“So?” Chelsey glared at Heather, making it evident those two specifically would not get along with each other, at least not easily.

“They censored stuff.”

“What do you mean? They don’t censor stuff in cartoons brought over from Japan,” Felicity pouted. “Censorship is wrong.”

“Have you seen Sailor Moon?” A smirk appeared on Heather’s face which in turn made Amy’s eyes go wide.

“Yes! I absolutely love that one.”

“Where are you going with this?” Chelsey let an eyebrow lift up.

“They’re not cousins.”

“What?” Felicity’s eyes blinked.

“Uranus and Pluto aren’t cousins,” Heather repeated while Amy placed a hand on her mouth. Nichole was majorly confused.

“So they added something, big deal.” Chelsey rolled her eyes.

“Except they didn’t add something. They changed something.”

Cecily’s eyes blinked. “Oh. Wait. I actually know this one. And you’re right, they did change that.”

“Change what?” Felicity looked over at her teacher.

“Don’t say it!” Amy suddenly piped up. “They’ll both be mean about it!”

Heather let out a sigh while Felicity let out a sound of indignation. “Come on. What would I be mean about?”

“How about we let them decide if they’ll be mean Amy?” Heather’s response was one Cecily could get behind, yet she understood where Amy was coming from. Not everyone was understanding of _that._

Yet, she had to agree, particularly since _that_ might be something she would need to deal with later on, given the fact she would, if they were stuck in this world, be acting not only as a teacher, but a legal guardian, something she now in the back of her head dreaded given the fact she’d really not thought about her future plans beyond surviving her second year of teaching at Gladstone Academy. “Go ahead. They’re going to remain curious until this is out, but we might as well deal with this now.”

“They’re not cousins. They’re lovers.”

Felicity’s eyes blinked. “Wait? What?”

“No, they didn’t.” Chelsey blurted out. “I’m telling you, they don’t censor things like that.”

“Really, have…”

“Has anyone thought about the fact the shows from Japan, but Professor Oak’s name isn’t Japanese?” Somehow, Nichole found a way to make that particular argument end. The look on Felicity’s face said she was lost in thought, meaning it might come up yet again.”

“Their names are Japanese in the Anime,” Amy piped up.

“But it’s not Japanese here.” Nichole had a point.

“That’s because it’s not Japanese names. It’s English names, duh.” Chelsey continued protesting.

Cecily let out a sigh then pointed to Heather’s side with her hand. She wasn’t sure if this was the best way to handle the situation, but then it also seemed Chelsey was wanting to argue with Heather over anything. “Point for Heather and Amy’s team. They are correct in saying that the show would have likely used Japanese names.”

Nichole placed a hand on her chin, contemplating this knowledge. “So then, why are the names we’re using English?”

“It translates in our heads because of whatever brought us here?” Heather suggested while Chelsey rolled her eyes.

“No. That doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, there is a Pokémon with the power to do so, or there could be,” Felicity muttered, her mind still focused on the revelation that Uranus and Pluto weren’t cousins.

“Well, maybe, but that would require the Pokémon to be constantly using its power, right? And we’d have some kind of inkling that would be going on.” What Nichole said made Cecily blink her eyes, given the fact Nichole didn’t know anything about this world, but then, something told her Nichole was trying to make sense of everything using real-world facts she knew. Not that real-world facts necessarily mattered in a world with sea dragons.

“True.” Heather of course seemed interested while Chelsey stewed. “Any theories?”

“Are there any other differences between different versions?”

“Well, the games and manga are also different even in Japanese.” Amy continued holding onto her Pikachu toy.

“So, one could argue the multi-verse theory?”

“The what?” Chelsey glared at Nichole.

“It’s a scientific theory that…”

“Why don’t you go help Oak help us find a way home since you’re so smart? I’m sure Heather would appreciate that.”

“Chelsey! That was uncalled for!” Cecily gave the girl a look. “Let’s just leave it at yes, it does explain why we’re able to understand English and that maybe we shouldn’t be overthinking things.”

“Oh. She’s right!” Felicity piped up.

“Nichole?” Chelsey glared at Felicity. “You’re siding with her?”

“No. The whole thing about Uranus and Pluto being lovers. It makes so much more sense that way.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Chelsey wasn’t pleased with that answer. “Stop siding with them.”

“There is some pretty weird stuff in Greek myth,” Nichole piped up.

“Uh, we’re actually not talking Greek myth.” Heather’s mouth twisted as she attempted hiding her amusement.

“Well, isn’t this about homosexuality? That happened in Greek myth, but since we’re talking censorship and lovers that must be it. It makes sense given Greek myth that it would be in whatever this Sailor whatzit is.”

“Could you shut up already about how smart you are?”

“Chelsey!” Cecily shook her head at the girl.

Heather’s eyebrows lifted in amusement. “Well, I guess we _were_ talking about the same thing.”

Felicity looked at Chelsey. “The question is, does Chelsey have an issue of homosexuality?”

“No, no I do not!” Chelsey snapped. “Where would you get that idea?”

“Because you kept arguing that it isn’t true after the teacher said it was?”

Chelsey’s eyes blinked, before flopping down onto the couch to pout. “Nichole still doesn’t…”

“You know what. Nichole and I are going to go and seek out Professor Oak to see if he’ll teach you girls how to make rice balls because I don’t know how to myself, but in the meantime, Chelsey, I want you to think about your behavior towards the other girls.”

“I’m not doing anything wrong.”

“Yes…”

“Heather, why don’t you take Amy out to see the… some of the Pokémon outside. This way there aren’t any arguments between you and Chelsey while I’m gone.” Heather glared at her. “And no, you’re not being punished.” It was more of she didn’t trust Chelsey to not start something but hoped she wouldn’t get into it with Felicity. So far, things were a definite headache.


	3. Out of Place

“I honestly don’t understand all this pop-culture stuff.”

“Oh,” their teacher responded to Nichole’s comment.

Nichole found herself pondering this fact ever since they’d left Professor Oak’s lab and set out to who knows where to find the man, but in truth, she’d been pondering a lot of things, such as how nobody taught her how to wash the dishes, perform first aid and other practical life things and instead focused on her studies. She’d known in the room that it was this pop-culture stuff the girls were talking about and even these Pokémon which existed in this world they’d come to be in was yet another pop-culture thing. “At least, I think the right word for all of that stuff is pop-culture. Not quite sure where I heard it if it is the right word.”

“Oh, it is the right word.”

Of course, “oh-ing” her response wasn’t exactly what Nichole hoped for, given the fact she’d expected the adult in front of her to actually answer the questions plaguing her young mind in a manner which she might understand. “I rather feel left out of the whole thing, which is weird because it never bothered me before.”

“Well, I never really got much of that pop-culture stuff either growing up, to be honest.”

“But you knew that thing about this Sailor what’s-it thing, right?” Nichole let out a sigh, now unsure of how she should proceed in getting the teacher to understand exactly what she was asking for. Birds flew overhead – rather large birds from her personal point of view, as she’d never seen the birds back home be the size they were in this world. “You’re not very helpful Sensei.”

“Wait. You’re now using that word as well? I don’t even know what it means.”

“It means teacher in Japanese. I’m going to ask Professor Oak about that if he knows that word.”

“To what end.”

“To try and figure out this world a little.”

“Hopefully we won’t have to stay here long though.”

“I know. I want to be prepared, but I think…” Nichole’s lips pushed together. “I want to figure this out. There are so many things to figure out.”

“Alright. I get it.”

Of course, Nichole wasn’t sure her teacher actually did understand what she was getting at.

“Perhaps you could ask Professor Oak for a book on these Pokémon to help you catch up with the other girls?” Perhaps her teacher did get it.

The sun beat down relentlessly on Nichole’s dark head and she soon became frustrated with how long it was taking to find Professor Oak. “Where is Professor Oak?”

“He said something about going to his family home, but gave me instructions on how to get there.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re not lost though.”

“Well, he said if I did get lost..” Their teacher stopped speaking, her head turned towards a woman coming down the road with what Nichole guessed was another Pokémon. Their teacher waved her hand in the air. “Oh! Hello! We’re trying to find Professor Oak’s family home!”

Nichole’s mouth twisted while she took in the person like Pokémon next to the woman, for it was definitely humanoid in shape. One definite difference was in the proportions, yet the clothing for some reason appeared to be a natural phenomenon as was the way the blue hair stuck out every which way. For some reason, the comparison to elves popped into her head making her wonder if this was the mythological equivalent Said creature turned its head, and instead of speaking like she’d expect an elf would speak instead said, “Mister Mime.”

“Oh.” The woman smiled at them. “Hello. I’m Delia Ketchum and this is Mimey.”

“That Pokémon is a Mimey?” Nichole asked, completely curious regarding the foreign creature.

“Oh no. Mimey is a Mr. Mime. I simply called him Mimey,” the woman smiled.

“Conclusion,” Nichole stated. “Pokémon often take their name from the way they sound.”

“Well, I guess that’s right in some cases, but not all of them.” Delilah smiled at them. “You must be one of the girls everyone’s heard about and their teacher.”

“Oak let everyone know about us?”

“Oh no,” Delilah laughed. “No, Pallet Town is a small place and news travels fast.”

“Oh, dear.”

“Anyways, I am one of the few people who does know because Oak told me. He’s my next-door neighbor, but his grandson Gary is childhood friends with my Ash. I can definitely help you two find your way there, but it’s not surprising that Oak forgot to draw you a map. He can be a bit scatterbrained at times.” The woman waved her hand at them and they followed after the woman, but in the back of Nichole’s mind, she couldn’t help but feel their teacher went too far to get where they were going, particularly since one could see the lab on the hill from where they were. Delilah knocked on the door. “Professor. I brought one of the girls and their teacher by as they were looking for you.”

“Oh. Come on in!” Oak seemed as pleasant as usual. Without hesitation, Delilah headed straight for where Oak was and her teacher followed, albeit a bit nervously.

Nichole followed; her eyes focused on the pictures on the wall. In the back of her mind, she guessed the people in the pictures were in fact the family of Professor Oak, but there were a lot of females with only one male. She turned to Professor Oak and said, “You have a lot of daughters, don’t you?”

“Hmm?” Oak glanced up from his paperwork. “Well, yes. Actually, it’s more of I have a lot of granddaughters. As far as I know, Gary’s the only boy, but he’s also the youngest.” He smiled at them. “Anyways, what brings you here Ms. Atwood?”

“Well, the girls were wondering if you could possibly teach them how to make rice balls. They’ve seen it in the – well, you know.”

“Oh! I’ll volunteer!” Delilah piped up. “I miss teaching my Gary how to cook.”

Nichole’s mouth twisted slightly. “Isn’t Gary the grandson of Professor Oak and the name of your son Ash?”

“Indeed, this is so. I wouldn’t let my Ash into my kitchen to cook, not to save his life.”

Oak sighed. “It would be saving people’s lives, not letting that boy cook. Anyways, that is neither here nor there. Anything else?”

“Well, sensei told me I should ask you for a book on Pokémon since I don’t know much about it.”

“Ah. Yes.” Oak took off, muttering through the walls. “ I’ve got just the one, but I don’t think Gary would mind me letting you borrow it. Plus, he’s outgrown that one and is onto more advanced ones. It’s always been a good starter.” He came back with a book which was small and thin, handing it to her. “These are the basics.”

Nichole took it, still unsure of what went down just then. “Oh.”

“Something the matter?”

“You didn’t react when I used the word sensei?”

“Oh? Well, it’s a word that means teacher.”

“Which means that word is in your language despite not being in our language which is similar to our English language. It’s in the Japanese language instead.”

“Japanese?” Oak pondered this for a few moments. “Well, I don’t know anything about this English or Japanese, but I do know Kantonese.”

“Cantonese?” Nichole pondered, unsure of what the Chinese language had to do with English or Japanese.

“Well, since that is settled I’ll head on back and finish up the lesson plans for preparing the girls in case we’re stuck here.”

“I’ll be by at lunchtime to help with teaching rice balls, but I can also teach them a few other meals that they can make while on the road as trainers if that’s the direction they’re headed.”

“Thank you.”

Nichole didn’t pay attention and instead stuck her nose into the book, nor did she notice it took a lot less time to get back to the lab, possibly because it was easy to spot the direction to go in.


	4. Truths Out

“Why me?” Heather found herself leaning over the fence, looking out towards the group of Tauros out in the field, wishing things weren’t the way that they were.

“Sorry.” Amy stood there next to her, the Pikachu stuffed toy clutched into her hand. “I mean, for keeping an eye on me.”

Heather’s eyes blinked, wondering why the other girl would think such a thing. After all, the reason their teacher sent the two of them outside was to hopefully avoid the girls getting into it while she was gone. Particularly, Heather didn’t want to deal with Chelsey’s stubbornness having dealt with her insisting everyone at their lunch table should trade their Pokémon for the ones she’d cheated. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Amy pondered over how she should answer the question. “Isn’t the reason why we were sent out here was so you could keep an eye on me?”

“I think it was so that Chelsey and I wouldn’t get into it while Mrs. Atwood was gone.”

“I think it is Ms. Atwood.”

“Anyways, why would you think she’d have me babysitting you?”

“Don’t you look at for your younger siblings or something like that? I mean, didn’t you say something about helping your mother out.”

“Yes, well, there is that.” Heather watched the Tauros, leaning in. “That’s honestly another place Chelsey and I differ. She wants to stay here like we don’t have any kind of responsibilities, but I guess rich kids don’t have any kind of responsibilities.”

“I guess we don’t.”

Heather froze, suddenly remembering the other girl in fact one of the rich girls. “Well, I didn’t mean…”

“I’m not exactly responsible. I shouldn’t even be here.”

“Look, I know that Felicity was hard on you while we were on the boat, but don’t you remember?” Heather watched Amy worry her lip.

“Remember what?”

“You were the first one of us to notice the Pokémon, but know it was Pokémon.”

“That’s not…” Amy continued worrying her lips. “That’s not what I mean.”

“Yeah, but you still shouldn’t let Felicity to get to you.”

“No, when I say I shouldn’t be here, I mean I shouldn’t even be on the trip.” Amy looked at her fingers, which she twiddled. “I kind of…”

“You kind of what?”

“Do you remember how you said I’m pure. I’m really not, because I signed the permission form, not my parents. They don’t even know I’m here. I mean, they didn’t know I was on the trip. So, not pure like you think.”

“How’s that even possible?” Heather knew her mother always knew where she was, or at least as best as she could given the fact they’d been washed into another world with no way of contacting those back home.

“They just, they kind of have a set itinerary for me and the school stuff is just added in.”

“But then they would know if they looked at the schedule?”

“Well, I guess. I still lied to get here.”

Heather pondered this, thinking that despite the fact Amy wasn’t in fact the type she’d expect to lie, but then she’d not expected one of the rich girls to actually be nice to others. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I wanted to make friends.”

“What about the other rich girls?”

“Not my friends. I mean, there are the ones my parents wanted me to make friends with, but they weren’t interested in any of the things I’m interested in.” Amy tilted her head. “My parents don’t even know I watch cartoons. They think they’re childish and they don’t know about my Pikachu toy either. Of course…” She then said something else. “… compared to your situation, that is trivial, though I am glad I told someone I lied.”

“You should tell the teacher,” Heather watched Amy opened her mouth.

“I…”

“Well, why not?”

“Because… I like sensei. I don’t want to disappoint her and that will disappoint her.”

“I think the teacher will be more understanding than you think,” Heather let out a sigh. “So, since we’re being honest, the teacher is aware that I got stuck on this trip because I got caught playing games to earn money to help my mom and younger siblings out, but I wasn’t old enough to enter. The school could have told my mom, but they didn’t and instead assigned me this as a punishment.”

“Why are you telling me?” Amy frowned, hugging her Pikachu closer.

“I’m telling you because Chelsey already knows. She thinks what I did is the same as cheating on the games. She didn’t even take the time to enjoy playing through. The other girls will likely find out as well, but since you’re being honest with me…”

“Still…”

“Tell the teacher. I mean, she is going to figure out eventually. If we do make contact with those back home, it is going to come out and she’d be even more disappointed…” Heather paused. “…when it comes out.”

“That sounds like sound advice.”

“I…” Heather looked at her hands. “I’m in the same boat, yet it’s with my mother. She didn’t know I’d gotten into trouble, but I imagine that she will be even more disappointed in me having not told her what I was doing. That I was trying to earn extra money to help her out and doing things such as buying things on the side such as things my siblings needed for school so my mom didn’t have to worry about them, but this… this will honestly have her worried.”

“I wish,” Amy paused, looking out at the Tauros. A few Pidgey flew across the sky while a Rattata peeked out in one area. “I wish I knew whether my parents were worried about me or not. I mean, everyone would think this is a dream come true, but it’s really not. Yet it is. I don’t know.”

Heather let out a sigh, completely getting how Amy felt, having seen the other girl become excited when they saw the Magikarp in the ocean. She also found seeing them quite exciting, but still didn’t feel comfortable about not knowing how her mother was doing, perhaps some of it being guilt.

“I think I will tell her. Honestly is the best policy.”


	5. Chelsey's Side of Coin

“I can’t believe she told me that I need to reflect on my behavior towards the other girls when Heather’s the one who should be reflecting on their behavior,” Chelsey muttered, still moping on the couch. For a brief moment, Felicity flopped onto the couch next to her, making her think she had someone she might rant to, but five minutes later saw Felicity heading straight for Professor Oak’s desk. “Wait? What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for a picture of Gary Oak. What else would I be doing?”

Chelsey brushed what Felicity said off as sarcasm, while Felicity stepped behind the desk unnoticed by the other girl. “Anyways, as I was saying, Heather is the one who needs to check her behavior, not me.”

“Why is that?”

“Because the reason she’s on this trip. That’s why.” Chelsey turned to look at her, one of her eyebrows shooting up. “Wait. Are you really looking for a picture of Gary Oak? Why would you be doing that?”

“Because I want to see if he is the way I actually imagined him being,” the girl looked up, scooping a picture from the desk with a squeal before hugging it to her. “He’s even _cuter_ in real life!”

“Um, okay. That really has nothing to do with my problem.”

“Which would be?” Felicity continued hugging the picture, rocking back and forth.

“Heather!” Chelsey watched Felicity’s mouth twist slightly, wondering how the girl could be a complete ditz, but then remembered something. “Wait a second. You’re the girl who’s supposed to be in the seventh-grade, but got held back twice now.”

“Please don’t rub it in,” Felicity sucked her breath in. She stopped rocking back and forth, still clutching the picture to her. “I know I’m dumb, so can it.”

“That,” Chelsey frowned, then said, “Well, you won’t like Heather then, because she thinks she is so smart.”

She watched Felicity worry her lip, but watched her mutter, “Really?”

“Really. And yet she’s the one who got caught lying about her age to be in a gaming tournament, yet has the audacity to not trade Pokémon with me on our games because she can’t have her game tainted for competition purposes or some la-de-dah like that.”

“Oh.” Felicity frowned. “I really don’t play the games. Just watch the Anime series, so I really can’t comment.”

“But you still want to become a Pokémon Trainer, right?” Chelsey piped up.

“Oh. Definitely.” Felicity opened up a drawer, but there was obviously some shuffling going on as she moved things around.

“What are you doing now?” Chelsey was definitely curious about what her new friend, and ally, was in fact up to.

“I’m looking for a pen and paper so I can write a story.”

“Oh? You’re a writer?” Chelsey asked.

“Well. Sort of. I write fanfic.”

“Well, either way, I don’t think Oak would mind you borrowing pen and paper for writing purposes,” Chelsey stated. “What’s fanfic?”

“Fanfic? You don’t know what it is? It’s writing stories about stuff, like Pokémon. But you can’t publish it because of copyright.”

“Well, wouldn’t you be able to publish your Pokémon stories here?”

“That would be…” Felicity frowned. “You know, that would actually be nice. Very nice actually, but it makes me want to stay even more. I’m not fond of the other world, being that I’m…”

“Got held back?” Chelsey asked.

“I unfairly got held back,” Felicity’s mouth twisted into a pout. She came over, plopping down onto the couch. “And do you know what the teacher did? She took my story I was writing simply because I used one of Nichole’s notebooks and pens. I’m sure Nichole wouldn’t have minded just like Oak wouldn’t have minded. Plus, the adults tell me that if I get bored I have a tendency to get into trouble because I don’t focus like I should, so I’m doing something. Just, not what they think I should be doing because that school stuff is boring. And I’m not too bright at it.”

“I’m not either.”

“Well, you didn’t ever get held back.”

“No. I’m not that bad. My parents thought I should get out of the house, though I doubt becoming a Pokémon Trainer was what they had in mind. I think they would be very proud of me, once I became a master Pokémon Trainer.”

“I’d like that.”

“Only one of us can become a master, so you need to find some other goal.”

“Marrying Gary Oak then? A Pokémon fashion expert? A Pokémon novelist?”

“Well, that certainly is a lot of goals,” Chelsey stated. “Look, the way I see it, it is going to be us versus them, Felicity.”

“What?” Felicity clutched the picture, notebook, and pens tighter. “What do you mean by that?”

Chelsey rolled her eyes. “Well, Nichole is smart, right?”

“Yes. Nichole is definitely smart.”

“So she’ll not likely get along with either one of us.”

“I don’t…” Felicity paused. “Maybe. I mean, the smart girls always make fun of me at school for getting held back a grade, now two. I’m not looking forward to repeating fifth grade for the third time either, but…” She shook her head. “Yeah. Don’t want any more people teasing me about not being smart.”

“And Heather thinks she’s smart, but she’s a stickler for the rules. She didn’t stand up to the teacher when the teacher got mad at you, right?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“Which leaves Amy. I don’t really know Amy.”

“She’s kind of,” Felicity paused. “Well, I kind of thought she was ditzy at first because she said she saw these Magikarp, but then it turned out they really were Magikarp, but I don’t think we’ll get along and that is my fault.”

“How is it your fault and not hers if you don’t get along?”

“Because…”

“I mean, look at me and Heather. It is definitely her fault that we don’t get along. She also doesn’t want to stay and become a Pokémon Trainer, but she’s likely out there convincing Amy to her side as we speak. And Nichole, she’s siding with their side because it’s the side the teacher is taking, so that as I said leaves just the two of us, but we need to convince the teacher to let us stay and become Pokémon Trainers. After all, Professor Oak promised.”

“He did.”

“Yes. Don’t you remember?”

“Well, it was kind of late when we got in here, so I guess he could have promised. It wouldn’t be very nice of him to go back on his promise, but he doesn’t seem like that in the cartoon. I mean, he doesn’t seem like the type to you, know, go back on promises.”

“Bingo.”

“But…” Felicity hesitated. “I do remember you saying this morning when we went outside right after breakfast that you thought if anything bad should happen, that it should be Heather.”

“That. I didn’t mean I wanted something bad to happen to her. I was just mad at the teacher because the teacher is far more concerned about getting home than this amazing world, we found ourselves in. Like, how can anyone miss out on such an opportunity?”


	6. Letter of Reason

A tap on her shoulder drew Nichole out of the book she was reading, and she looked up to see she and their teacher had arrived back at the lab. Her lips pushed together as Heather and Amy came over to greet them, making her wonder what the two got up to if anything while they were gone, but then her mind wandered to the two inside. The strange bison with two tails continued roaming the field, her interest definitely perked.

Not that they planned on staying.

In the back of Nichole’s mind, she knew that despite the fact she wanted to stay and explore this new world, even become a scientist in this world, and finally do that one thing her older siblings hadn’t yet done that might make her parents proud, there was the fact they couldn’t, no shouldn’t logically stay if they could indeed get back. She tucked her book under her arm, having already absorbed the basic idea of a world where people lived beside creatures that looked as if they were out of mythology.

When they arrived inside, they discovered Chelsey and Felicity sitting on the couch. Chelsey continued sulking, muttering things every so often to Felicity which appeared to otherwise go ignored while Felicity scribbled away at a notepad while looking at a picture longingly. From beside her, their teacher let out a deep sigh. “Felicity, please tell me you didn’t go digging in Professor Oak’s desk without permission.”

The girl’s head darted up, her mouth opening ever so slightly, before looking at the notepad she scribbled in, almost as if she were afraid the teacher would in fact take it away. She also pulled her picture closer to her while Chelsey continued slouching while her arms crossed her chest. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

Their teacher let out a deep breath. “Perhaps not the notepad and pen, but the picture? Please return the picture from where you found it. It wasn’t right to take the personal items of another person.”

“You mean like…” Felicity looked at Nichole, which of course confused Nichole slightly as if there was something she didn’t know. Her mouth opened, but then she looked away, not really wanting to get into an argument with any of the girls. The times that arguments started up between her and the other girls at school – well, often real-world logic didn’t seem to go anywhere, but with the fact, there were things she really didn’t know anything about, such as taking care of injuries and washing dishes.

“Anyways, Professor Oak’s neighbor said she would be in at lunchtime to teach you girls how to make rice balls, but I think it is time for you to start working on your letters, or at the very least I think you should be considering what you want to write in them. Felicity, since you know where Oak keeps the pens, I’d appreciate if you would get one for each girl, but also give each one a piece of paper from that notepad you found.”

Felicity let out a sigh but complied so each girl soon found themselves sitting at the small table in the lab’s kitchen, looking down at the paper and wondering what to write. The first thing which came to Nichole’s mind was to write, “ _I would like to stay, please. After all, this is the chance of the lifetime, for me to actually research into something which hasn’t been researched into._ ” Yet, Nichole knew that this wasn’t what the teacher was expecting, nor did she really consider herself close enough to her parents to say anything else.

Amy of course dove right in, as did Heather. Chelsey leaned over from where she sat, letting out a slight snorting sound. Heather pulled her letter away, glaring at the girl. “You shouldn’t be reading other people’s letters.”

“Heather is correct Chelsey.”

“But you’re going to read them,” Chelsey protested, suddenly snatching Amy’s letter from her which resulted in a protest from the blond-haired girl. “So what does it matter if… oh!”

“Give it back!” Amy looked as if she were about to cry.

“Little miss perfect here isn’t so perfect it turns out! She…”

“Knock it off!” Heather stood up, her chair clattering to the ground.

“Yes, but…”

“She’s already planned on telling the teacher, so you can shut your trap about it, Chelsey.”

“But was she going to tell the rest of us that she shouldn’t be here, that she forged her parents' signatures?”

Nichole’s eyes widened, wondering why anybody would feel the need to forge their parents' signatures on an academic trip that she’d thought she would be the only person who actually wanted to come on, at least until some of the girls learned that Pokémon were real. The teacher let out a sigh, covering her eyes and eyeglasses. “Chelsey…”

“Well, she lied, so…”

“I wish you would stop antagonizing the other girls. We need to be working together, not against each other.” The teacher let out a sigh while Felicity looked back and forth between the teacher and Chelsey.

“Well, you’ve already ruled out the option of us becoming Pokémon trainers even though we ended up the chance of a lifetime! Do you think we were brought here just because?”

“Well, yes, at this point I do, but that’s beside the point.” The teacher let out a deep breath. “I don’t have your parents' permission to…”

“You don’t have permission from Amy’s parents. With the rest of us you’ve already been placed in charge of us by our parents, so…”

“Am I interrupting anything?” Nobody noticed someone coming in the front door, but it was Professor Oak’s neighbor with…

“Mimey!” Nichole called out, quite pleased to see the strange creature.

  
“Oh. You must be Ash’s mom,” Amy piped up.

The woman smiled at her. “Yes. Ash is my boy, and this is Mimey.”

Felicity’s eyes blinked, her head turning to look at Amy. “How did you know that?”

“Ash’s mom gets a Mr. Mime she called Mimey in episode sixty-four.”

“That episode’s not aired yet.” Chelsey rolled her eyes. “Or are you so spoiled your parents get you…”

“I’m not sure what you’re saying, but Mimey’s actually been a part of our family since Ash was very little.”

“Is that another way this world differs from the ones they know about?” Nichole piped up, her curiosity definitely perked.

“Seems so,” Heather muttered, looking at her letter.

“I still don’t see why we’re having to write these letters.”

“Well…” Ash’s mom placed a finger on her chin. “Coming from the standpoint of a parent, Profesor Oak and your teacher was to let you go be trainers, then perhaps it is a good idea to think of these letters as your way of explaining your case to your parents or just letting them know you’re okay. Because I’d certainly want to know how Ash is doing, wouldn’t I?”

“Well, Ash doesn’t actually spend much time making contact with you in the show. It’s mostly about his journey to becoming a Pokémon master.”

“Oh. That’s a real shame. Anyways,” Ash’s mother clapped her hands together. “Let’s get started learning to make rice balls and a few other things that you can not only make on the trail but not actually cost much in way of supplies. While we’re doing that, think of what you want to put in your letters if you are allowed to go, but I doubt either one will let you go if you don’t write that letter.”

Nichole nodded her head, now feeling what she wanted to write from the beginning was actually logical after all.


End file.
